


On the Sea

by ghostadventurespiritorb (LadyScientist)



Series: Diamonds and Dragons [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Episode: s03e28 Bubbled, Gen, i mean kinda even though none of them are actually human, i'll explain the au in the notes because it's a lot, they're all like elves and dwarves and stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26842075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyScientist/pseuds/ghostadventurespiritorb
Summary: Out on the sea we'd be forgivenOur bodies stopped the spirit leavingWouldn't you like to know how far you've got left to go?- “On The Sea,” Beach HouseSteven finds himself stranded at sea with an Elemental soldier.
Series: Diamonds and Dragons [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958014
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	On the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Alright y'all, welcome to my dnd AU! I've been working on this with my friend for a long time, and finally got a finished fic out of it.  
> The main info you need to know for this story is that everyone has magical amulets instead of gems, Homeworld is the Elemental Planes, the diamonds are called the Elemental Queens, and well yeah! Also I changed Eyeball's name to One-eye because it made more sense in the context I'll add more background info in the end note for context.  
> End note contains spoilers for A Single Pale Rose, although anyone reading this has probably seen that episode by now. I did have the twist spoiled for me, so I try to be diligent with warnings.  
> Edit 10/8/20: my friend caught a couple errors with naming inconsistency in the last scene, thanks for pointing those out!  
> Edit 2/2/21: added art! a screenshot edit with lines done by fullmusicbard and color/rendering done by me!

“There goes the Material Plane,” said Steven, slightly in disbelief, as the misty border that marked the boundary of the material plane faded away into the distance as he floated into the vastness of the Sea of Worlds.

“There goes my whole platoon!” growled the Elemental Soldier with a ruby amulet and an eyepatch that Steven had nicknamed One-eye. “This is a mess!” She started pacing around the tiny rowboat, causing the ship to rock wildly on the waves. “What'll I say in my report? How will I even make my report? This is a nightmare!” She stopped pacing, and glared at Steven. 

“And this is all your fault!”

“Whoa! Hey, no, it's not! You were trying to hurt my friends!” Steven protested.

“But _you_ caused the cave-in at the Planar Base! You sent us falling off that cliff into the Sea of Worlds with no hope of ever returning!” One-eye shouted.

“... Okay, so maybe that was my fault. I'm sorry. There, are you happy?”

“No. Right now, I really just want to pop you right in the face.”

“Well, if you're going to be a grump about it, then we can just float in silence until we both die!”

One-eye crossed her arms. “Sounds great!”

“Fine!”

“I can't wait!”

“Me, neither!” Steven finished, and that was that.

They were quiet for a long time after that. The two drifted in the ocean for at least a few days in complete silence, Steven eating whatever dried fruit he had in his pack. After the first time he offered her a piece, followed by her refusing, he simply left her alone and watched the sun rise and set over the ocean, lighting up the incredible cloud formations overhead.

Seagulls circled far overhead. Once, a whale breached not far from the boat. Time passed. The clouds drifted by. 

Steven sat at the bow of the rowboat, leaning against one side that made up the angle of the front, vaguely facing towards One-eye, who was laying on her side at the stern with her back to him. It was raining lightly, thick gray clouds overhead suggesting that the storm would last a while. When she sat up and began talking for the first time since they’d been out here, Steven looked up.

“I shouldn't have ever left the elemental planes!” One-eye growled. “When I heard rumors there might still be beings from the Jewel Resistance alive on the Material Plane, I couldn't believe it,” she began. “A century of fighting was all for nothing! And Rose might still be alive? She must be!” She flopped back down. “Why else would someone as important as Jasper be back on Earth? For closure, that's why. I wanted it, too. I wanted to see Rose with my own eye. At the very least, I thought Jasper might have some answers, but... it wasn't even her; just another trick.”

“That’s really all you wanted? To see Rose?” said Steven, slightly surprised.

“More than anything,” admitted One-eye, clenching her hand into a fist.

“Then… today’s your lucky day.”

“How’s that?” said One-eye, suspicious of yet another trick.

“I…” started Steven, unsure of how to explain to her. “I know where Rose is.”

One-eye sat up, glaring at him with her one visible eye. “Where is she?”

“She… was my mom, and now I have her amulet. I kinda am her, I guess.”

“Right. And I have two eyeballs, which I don't! You expect me to believe anything, don't you? Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me four times, you already fooled me, and you can't fool me again.”

“Look, I can prove it!” said Steven, pulling the amulet out from inside his tunic. “I have her rose quartz amulet!”

“That's more of a pinkish-red than a real rose quartz reddish-pink,” said One-eye.

“Look, I can summon her shield! It's got a rose on it and everything!” Steven said, summoning the carved rosewood shield.

“Who cares about her shield? Her huge sword is what I remember,” One-eye said, ever skeptical.

Steven flung his arms to the sides, causing the shield to vanish. “Uh, I left that in my Lion.”

“Are you kidding me? You're despicable. We're gonna die out here, and you're just gonna make fun of me until we do!” One-eye sighed. “You're even crueler than Rose.”

It was raining harder now. Lightning flashed above the boat. Steven glanced up, holding onto the side of the boat to steady himself against the waves rocking the tiny boat. He reached into his pack for another piece of dried fruit, but his fingers found nothing. Before he had a chance to worry about the fact that he was out of food, a wave crashed against the rowboat. It spun across the dark water, thunder crashed overhead, saltwater spray scattered over the two-

“Uh… One-eye?” Steven said.

She ignored him.

Another wave rocked the boat, coming dangerously close to sending One-eye flying into the ocean. 

“One-eye?” Steven said, louder over the wind that whipped his curly hair into his face.

“That’s not my name,” snapped One-eye, but she sat up, bracing herself against the rear of the boat to avoid falling out.

The two sat like that, soaked to the bone and trying to weather the storm, until a giant wave rocked the boat and sent One-eye overboard, into the vast blue deep.

“No! One-eye!” Steven yelled. He scanned the water for any sign of the short soldier. Finally, he saw her hand sticking out of the roaring water, and he grabbed her wrist. “I’ve… got you!” he said, as he pulled her back into the boat.

She coughed up water as she clutched at her amulet.

“Oh, jeez! You okay?” Steven said, touching her shoulder. 

One-eye shoved him back. “Get off of me!” 

Steven fell back into the water pooled in the boat with a splash. 

“Whoa! What’s wrong?” he asked, crawling back over to her.

She let go of the red cushion-cut gem on her amulet, revealing that the stone was cracked.

“Your amulet is cracked!” Steven exclaimed.

“What? This is just perfect!” growled One-eye.

“Don't worry, I can fix it!” Steven said.

“I'm not falling for any of your tr-” One-eye started, but was cut off as she doubled over in pain. She groaned as she sat back up. Steven grabbed her shoulders, and she looked up.

“I’m serious, I can help.”

“Fine. I guess I got nothing else to lose,” said One-eye, closing her eye in resignation.

“Thank you,” Steven sighed. He licked his palm and touched the gem hanging from her neck, which caused One-eye to exclaim and push him away.

“What was _that_ supposed to be?! What in the cosmos is wrong with... you?” Her angered remark faded to confusion as the gem started to glow. One-eye stared down at the amulet, eye wide as the crack closed itself up.

“See? It worked,” said Steven, shaking his head.

“I... I can't believe it! There were rumors back during the war that Rose could heal the soldiers of the Jewel Resistance, keeping her small army in contention with the superior forces of the Elemental Planes. Wow! It really is you! Rose, leader of the rebellion!”

“See? That's what I was trying to tell you!”

One-eye started laughing.

“Yep, it's me, the mighty Rose!” Steven proclaimed

“And now we're stuck out here, floating aimlessly through the distant reaches of the Elemental Plane!” laughed One-eye. 

“How'd we get ourselves into this mess?” added Steven.

The two were inexplicably laughing, Steven wiping away tears in mirth, until One-eye’s laughter faded away and Steven awkwardly stopped. 

“The mighty Rose…” growled One-eye, her gaze dark. She drew a long, angry knife from a sheath on her belt.

Steven laughed nervously. “Huh?”

“I never thought I'd get a chance like this. I can't believe you're all _mine_!” said One-eye, leaping at Steven with the dagger. 

He dodged her attack and scrambled to the back of the boat. “Why are you attacking me?”

“Don't act surprised, Rose! You killed one of the Elemental Queens!” She continued to chase him, dagger raised, as he narrowly escaped a series of her attacks. 

“I'm gonna get you! I'm gonna take your gem and bring it back!”

“What?! No! Please don't take my gem!” Steven cried. He stopped moving to think. “Wait, what would even happen to me?” One-eye tripped over one of the seats in the bottom of the boat and sprawled to the floor as Steven huddled at the bow. The knife landed on the floor of the boat with a clatter, and their eyes both latched onto it. Before Steven had a chance to move out of the way, One-eye pulled herself to her feet, grabbed the knife, and pinned Steven to the wall of the boat, dagger raised.

Helplessly pinned against the edge of the boat, One-eye tugged at the tough string of his amulet until it hung outside his tunic. The pink gemstone, so important to his very existence, the chain that suddenly seemed so thin, so delicate, so breakable as the small soldier prepared to cut the necklace from where it had hung his entire life, glinted beneath the light of a billion glorious stars. In the middle of the ocean, all alone, what would even happen to him?

“W-Wait! You don't have to do this!” Steven cried as a last effort to get her to stop.

“Oh, give it up already! You can't take this away from me! I'm gonna be a legend! I'll go down in history! What will the Elemental Queens say when they hear that a ruby defeated Rose?” she said giddily. “They're gonna give me my own pearl!” she added, biting down on the hilt of her knife in excitement.

“What? Wait! Please listen! I'm really not my mom! I don't want to hurt you! Just- just think for a second. We're lost out in space. How are you going to get back to the Elemental Planes alone?” Steven said in desperation.

“I've already made up my mind!”

He took in the last moment of all this- 

The salty smell of the sea all around them, with the slight touch of seaweed and kelp that made that of the ocean its very own scent, so much more than just salty-

The waves lapping against the side of the boat, that repeated slap, slap, slap as they drifted, the faintest sound of a wind off of the cold water, and maybe the call of a distant albatross-

The rough wood beneath his back, water pooled in the bottom of the boat having long soaked into his shoes, One-eye’s weight on top of him-

He bit his tongue, ready for the worst (he’d seen what happened when the elemental amulet-bearers’ amulets were pulled away, what happened to that elemental monster that day in the snow with Jasper), and tasted the copper tang of blood-

One-eye brought her knife down, ready to cut through the amulet’s chain, and he moved aside at the last moment, redirecting her kinetic energy into throwing her out of the small boat, sending her flying into the ocean.

A stinging pain in his shoulder reminded him that it wasn’t a smart idea to throw someone holding a knife so close to him like that. He didn’t see where One-eye had gone; perhaps she’d already sunk beneath the waves, but he didn’t care, the waves were such a nice sound, and the sun finally peeking out from the clouds felt so nice despite the water in the bottom of the boat. He didn’t even bother continuing to dig through his pack to search for the last crumbs of food or perhaps a stray nut; he just curled up in the bottom of the boat and let himself fall asleep.

The boat was so, _so_ small in the middle of the Sea of Worlds.

So insignificant, and so hard to find.

But his family still searched.

It was days before they found the tiny boat, even with Sapphire’s magic.

Amethyst and Pearl pulled him into the ship, and when he was completely unmoving, tunic splattered with red, they assumed the worst for a moment.

They fussed over him, dressed the wound on his shoulder, wrapped him in a blanket in an attempt to combat the cold, and laid him down onto a bunk below deck to sleep, and they waited for him to wake.

Anxious hours passed.

And finally, he woke up.

Steven opened his eyes to see Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst and Pearl standing around the bunk. Pearl had tears welling in the corners of her eyes, Ruby and Sapphire were holding each other, and Amethyst looked like she hadn’t slept since Steven had fallen into the sea. 

He sat up, and Amethyst and Pearl immediately pulled him into a hug. They were crying, but they were smiling, so Steven cried too. Amethyst said something sarcastic to Pearl (it was still all a blur for Steven), but she just laughed in response. Ruby rubbed his hair, and he smiled. All of them were smiling tearfully, relieved to be reunited, and the group hugged, and didn’t let go.

Pearl and Amethyst headed back up above deck to steer the ship home, leaving Steven alone with Ruby and Sapphire. 

“How come nobody told me about Queen Hyacinth?” Steven asked quietly.

“We all did what we had to during the war,” Ruby said. 

“Everything's different now,” said Sapphire.

“But did Mom really do it? Did she really... kill her?”

“She had to. The Earth belonged to Queen Hyacinth. Destroying her was the only way to save the planet. For Amethyst to be herself, for Pearl to be free, for us to be together,” said Ruby, glancing at Sapphire with the last words. 

“For you to exist,” added Sapphire.

“But I thought…” Steven took a deep breath, rephrasing. “A-At least she'd never…”

“She didn't always do what was best for her. But she always did what was best for Earth.”

“Even if it meant killing someone.”

“Yes.”

Steven sighed. “Thanks for telling me.”

Ruby and Sapphire helped Steven up, and he stood at the bow of the stolen elemental ship and watched the border of the Material Plane come into view.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so the dnd AU! I call it Diamonds and Dragons because it sounds cool. 
> 
> Basically, instead of gems, everybody has magical amulets. Instead of planets, there are a bunch of different planes of existence. Steven is the half-elf son of Rose, leader of the Jeweled rebellion against the for Elemental Queens.  
> All amulet bearers' powers are derived from their amulets, and different gemstone amulets have different spellcasting abilities.  
> Steven is a half-elf bard, Pearl is a wood elf Pact of the Blade Warlock, and Amethyst is a mountain dwarf barbarian. The fusion mechanics in this universe are different- instead of physically merging, it's more of a mental spell. It gives whoever is using it hit point and various stat increases, new spellcasting abilities, and new weaponry. Therefore, instead of using Garnet as a single character as is often done in human AUs, I'm able to keep Ruby and Sapphire's gayness afoot. Ruby is a stout halfling fighter and Sapphire is a knowledge domain deep gnome cleric.  
> If you have any other questions about the AU, just ask!


End file.
